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>Spurgeon on anger
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Morning
God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry?
Anger is not always or necessarily sinful, but it has such a tendency to run wild that whenever it displays itself, we should be quick to question its character, with this enquiry, Doest thou well to be angry? It may be that we can answer, YES. Very frequently anger is the madman’s firebrand, but sometimes it is Elijah’s fire from heaven. We do well when we are angry with sin, because of the wrong which it commits against our good and gracious God; or with ourselves because we remain so foolish after so much divine instruction; or with others when the sole cause of anger is the evil which they do. He who is not angry at transgression becomes a partaker in it. Sin is a loathsome and hateful thing, and no renewed heart can patiently endure it. God himself is angry with the wicked every day, and it is written in His Word, Ye that love the Lord, hate evil. Far more frequently it is to be feared that our anger is not commendable or even justifiable, and then we must answer, NO. Why should we be fretful with children, passionate with servants, and wrathful with companions? Is such anger honourable to our Christian profession, or glorifying to God? Is it not the old evil heart seeking to gain dominion, and should we not resist it with all the might of our newborn nature? Many professors give way to temper as though it were useless to attempt resistance; but let the believer remember that he must be a conqueror in every point, or else he cannot be crowned. If we cannot control our tempers, what has grace done for us? Some one told Mr. Jay that grace was often grafted on a crab-stump. Yes,said he, but the fruit will not be crabs. We must not make natural infirmity an excuse for sin, but we must fly to the cross and pray the Lord to crucify our tempers, and renew us in gentleness and meekness after His own image.
>Proverbs 8:22-31
>22 “The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.
23 Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
24 When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth,
26 before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world.
27 When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
28 when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep,
29 when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
30 then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always,
31 rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man.
So far wisdom has told us who she lives with, who she walks with, and now she gets old school by telling us that she has been around since the beginning of all creation.
This is not an explanation of what happened at he beginning though there is obviously clear connection to the Hebrew view of creation. The keys tom seeing that are water, mountains, things with shape that are made, earth, the deep and of there being the great Creator very present.
.wisdom being there from the beginning means a few things to me:
She is good for all time. I live in the moment and want a quick scheme to get me through, probably not wisdom.
She is uniquely connected with God, the ungodly may show it but that is a gift to them fromGod alone.
She delights in us, we have great capacity for her.
She is a complement to knowing God.
>Proverbs 8:12-21
>12 "I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion.
13 The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
14 I have counsel and sound wisdom; I have insight; I have strength.
15 By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just;
16 by me princes rule, and nobles, all who govern justly.
17 I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.
18 Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness.
19 My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver.
20 I walk in the way of the righteous, in the paths of justice,
21 granting and inheritance to those who love me, and filling their treasures.
Living with someone is a big deal, often time whether Christian or not it is entered into with much fear, prayer and trembling. So who does wisdom live with?
Prudence-certainly not sexy, yet doesn't mean boring either. Not flaunting unnecessarily
Knowledge-knowing the correct way to act and doing it
Discretion-no unnecessary attention
These three may not be the life of the party, but maybe that is the point. Doing what is right because it is right rather than having to steal the spotlight, and you give others the chance to have their day.
There are some really big assumptions taken by Ms Wisdom in this section. The assumption with evil is that it really exists here and you know it when you see it. Not as complicated as often we experience, simple pride and arrogance and perverted speech are what God hates. Lord knows I need to repent of all of these.
Also Kings, rulers and those in charge are seeking wisdom. That is so wild and foreign for us in our very skeptical culture. What would it mean for us to give those in power, influence, and with resources the benefit of the doubt that they are seeking wisdom? We wouldn't have to put ourselves or others at risk, but trust you boss the next time he or she makes a suggestion rather than feeling like you have to battle the man all the time. My own suspicious nature has been revealed to me to be false more often than I can express.
Maybe if we are less suspicious of these folks we might even have a God given desire to be them. Live as rulers and rich people who seek wisdom, who aren't ruled by possessions but rather use them to honor God and love our neighbor as ourselves. As long as I am incorrectly critical of these folks why would I ever want to be them, I'd never put in the hard work to do it. Rather God is using those in authority for His good in life, so I am grateful, I pray for them, I long to see the place where they seek out wisdom, and I hope that God will continue to use them in my life and the lives of others.
Not only are wisdom’s housemates important, so are her walking partners.
Righteousness – choosing good all the time
justice – the pursuit of fairness for all of God’s creation
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